


As a Matter of Fact

by hsilence



Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffee Shops, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 07:32:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11143779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hsilence/pseuds/hsilence
Summary: A business hotshot meets a shameless barista.





	As a Matter of Fact

**Author's Note:**

> This is a piece of writing I did couple years ago but never posted. What I posted is all I have written so far so whether it'll be continued is still debatable :') If you'd like to see more, let me know through whatever means and I will try my best. Enjoy~

Hijikata Toushiro was your ideal success story in every way possible. An orphan at an age where he could barely read and write, he was taken into the family of Shinsengumi founders, owners of the leading company in Japan, with a stroke of serendipity. It was a connection most businessmen would sell his soul for but it was the bane of Hijikata’s life. Smarter and sharper than your average student, he excelled in his studies, graduated a year early from the top business school in Japan, then started climbing his way up the corporate ladder right off as a college graduate, reaching his well-earned seat as the vice-president of Shinsengumi in mere seven years. Successful, rich, handsome, intelligent and high in social status, Hijikata Toushiro was the dream man of all women and the icon of jealousy for all men in Japan.

 

            “…”

            “Hijikata – saaaaaan, is that a grey hair that I see~?"

            “Toshi, Celebrate! You’re 26 only once in your whole life, turn that frown upside down!”

            “Whoa, the cake, the cake, the cake, IT’S FALLING YOU DUMBASSES!”

            “WATCH THE DOCUMENTS!”

 

So why, he wondered, in _hell_ did he have to sit through this inexplicably life-threatening, god-forsaken, lifespan reducing birthday party, he could not figure out for all his miserable 26 years of life’s worth. He picked the remainder of the confetti off his suit and crushed it between his fingers, pettily wishing it will make everything disappear.His cigarettes were the only thing keeping him from being an ungrateful bastard and chasing every single one of these annoyingly caring people out of his now ransacked office.

He nodded politely at people wishing him a happy birthday and pulled up a tight smile at the presents he received out of courtesy. Picking at the slice of cake in front of him, he sighed. _Only 8 o’clock,_ he thought, _only fucking 8 o’clock._

            “Yo, Toshi” Kondo greeted loudly, startling Hijikata out of his grave thoughts.  

            “Kondo-san.”

            “Happy birthday!”

            “…Yeah. Could’ve done without all the…rampaging.”

            “Haha! Birthdays are meant to be celebrated with rampaging! Especially when you’re so close to leaving your sweet 20s behind,” Kondo remarked vigorously, his exuberance vastly contrasting to what his comments entailed.

            “Why is everybody so fond of reminding me that I’m getting old?” he groaned, burying his forehead into his hand, trying to rub away the imminent headache.

            “Because it’s the point in your life where you should be trying to get your life in order.”

            “I have my life in order,” Toushiro retorted.

            “Financial wise, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”

            “…Then what are you talking about,”

            “Romance! You have everything you need in life except romance! Someone to share your deep felt love with!” Kondo declared, with Tae-san in his mind, no doubt.

            “Oh.” Hijikata felt taken aback by Kondo’s assertion. Romantic aspect of his life has been absent ever since he could remember; it never occurred to him that he was lacking anything. He has never once stopped to think about how it would be to have someone waiting for him at home, greeting and welcoming him back. Nor did he ever think of condemning himself to one person for his entire life. All of his so-called romantic relationships had an expiratory date of 30 days. “…I still have time. No need to rush anything.”

            “Nonsense, Toshi! All of your relationships have failed drastically! Even Sougo could do better!”

            “Che, no need to compare me to that sadist,” he snapped, feeling thoroughly insulted.

            “Then get yourself a girlfriend, Hijikata-san, before you get all wrinkly and old that nobody will want you. Not that anybody wants you now,” Sougo replied, apparently appearing out of thin air, with that ever so infuriating poker face.

            “Ah, speak of the devil!” Kondo exclaimed, putting an arm around Sougo’s shoulders.

            “You can say that again…” Toushiro muttered, fishing out his cigarette pack for another smoke. He gratefully took a fresh cig between his teeth and was about light it up when suddenly it flew away, up into the air and right down onto the floor.

            “Oops, my hands slipped. Sorry, Hijikata-san,” Sougo said in his maddeningly bored tone with the barest hint of evil in his red eyes.

            “You little shit!” with a growl, Toushiro grabbed the collar of Sougo’s suit, ready for an all-out brawl. The fact that this unappreciative, pain in the ass, intensely sadistic 23 old bastard managed to be the director of Shinsengumi when most people his age would be finishing college, was the proof God was against him.

And so continued the 26th birthday party for Hijikata Toushiro, ending, as the man himself predicted, way past 11pm, with his office and his mood thoroughly harassed. He sank into his chair, sighing for the umpteenth time at the prospect having to return to work tomorrow after a physically and mentally demanding day.

Trusting the cleaning ladies to do their job, Toushiro left the office as it is, only picking up his jacket and suitcase on his way out. Even the usually bustling and rowdy streets of Tokyo were void of vehicles and pedestrians at past 1am. Only few drunkard shouts and laughs could be heard, amplified by the emptiness of the whole streets. _What to do at 01:27 am…Yamazaki had to take his leave today, what a useless driver._ Toushiro thought bitterly, racking his brain for a way to get home. He would usually take the subway when his driver was not in service, but the last train most likely departed already and there was no sign of taxies or public buses. _Suppose I have to walk home…It’s fucking 40 minutes away._ Resigning himself to a terrible day, the vice-president of Shinsengumi started his long, long journey back home.

Sense of time was lost to Toushiro as he walked thoughtlessly to his condominium, letting his legs lead. As he crossed the street that separated the hallmark skyscrapers of Tokyo and the suburb, a white sign caught his attention at the corner of the suburb area. The sign was attached to a cafe that he failed to notice all these years and by the looks of it, it wasn’t built all too recently either. Its design was caught somewhere between the modern and sharp designs likening to urban side of the street and the cozy and intimate atmosphere likening to the suburban side of the street. Inside he could still see couple of people mingling, although no noise came out of the shop.

As if on time, his stomach growled and he realized he hasn’t eaten anything besides a slice of cake since lunch. And living as a bachelor meant that he didn’t have anything consumable in his kitchen other than alcohol and foods that long passed their expiration date. _Ah, this place better have good food_. He purposefully turned towards the direction of the café and as he got closer, he could read 銀魂 (Gintama) written fashionably in black across the glowing white sign. The door rang a pleasurable chime when he opened it and he was greeted by a soft jazz music and just the right amount of AC. The café was surprisingly spacious; the narrow passage contained the counter, just few feet away from the door, and at the end of the narrow passage, an open space came into the view decorated with variety of tables, chairs and couches.  The lighting was just dim enough to give a sense of privacy and the mixture of out of date trinkets and elegant paintings managed to give the place a gratifying melancholic feeling. He could even see private rooms reserved for business meetings at the far end.

Quite pleased with his choice to stop by, he turned towards the counter and was satisfied to see an array of light food and drinks for his choosing. Decided on what he wanted, he looked up, expecting a barista or another to be there. He frowned when he saw not a face but the soles of a very, very dirty and worn down shoes perched on the counter. The face of the owner of the shoes was hidden behind the counter and Hijikata cold only see pair of long legs covered by black material leading down from the shoes.

            “Hey, could you take an order please?”

            “…”

            “…Hello?”

            “…”

            “…”  Hijikata could feel the vein on his forehead pop as his tried to quell his annoyance, but god damn it, he’s had enough today, he deserved to shout at a poor excuse of a barista.

            “You lazy-ass bastard, do you’re fucking job, why don't you,” Hijikata spat, feeling a tiny bit better when he saw the soles move slightly with a barely audible groan somewhere behind the counter. After few more seconds of muffled shuffling, the shoes dropped to the ground with a heavy thud and Hijikata could see a mop of the weirdest hair he has yet to see. It was as white as human hair could get with a tint of blue that was accentuated by the bright lighting just above his head. Slightly covered by this hair were burgundy eyes that could rival a corpse’s liveliness. He stared at the eyes just to check if this man was indeed alive and breathing. Then he went back to the hair, because _seriously_? White hair? Was this some kind of trend he didn’t know about whilst living under a rock? He didn’t even know the right color to describe it. White? Gray? _Blue?_

            “Ehem. If you are done staring, I _will_ take your order,” a very dull and so-not-in-a-good-way-reminded-him-of-Sogou voice broke his process of deducing the barista’s hair color.

            “I wasn’t staring,” Hijikata retorted out of reflex.

            “Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s not like I blame you for staring. I mean who would?”

Oh, now he was conceited?  

            “Anybody and everybody who doesn’t like half-assed barista,” he hissed.

            “Whoa, there, there business-kun. Keep your claws hidden.”

            “Business-ku-?!”

            “You are a hotshot. I’ve seen you in the news and the magazines, business-kun,” the barista said with the slightest hint of a smirk. “Now, are you going to order, or are you going to start bitching about how the successful life is wearing you down.”

            “What’d you say, you son of a-“

            “Hey business-kun, for such a hotshot, you sure swear a lot. How did you make it to the top with such a foul mouth?” the barista now wore an outright mocking expression and somewhere deep, deep inside Hijikata’s consciousness, he felt something snap, most likely his patience or his temper.  Blaming this temporary handicap, he pulled back his already balled up fist and smacked in right into the face of someone he’s met for no more than a minute. With a satisfying crunch and a pained grunt, he made contact with the barista’s face, but the pleasure only lasted a second as pain blossomed in his fist.

            “AH SHIT!”

            “OW, FUCKING HELL!”  

            “WHAT IS YOUR HEAD MADE OUT OF HUH?! CONCRETE!?”

            “NO, BUT IT'S GONNA BE A PRETTY PURPLE SHADE THANKS TO YOU, BUSINESS-KUN!”

            “FUCKING STOP WITH THE BUSINESS-KUN, YOU-“

            “Gin-san? What’s going on? Is there a problem?”

            “TOSHI!?! What are you doing here, I didn’t know you come here!”

            “Che, it’s you again Hijikata.”

            “…”

Oh, what in fresh hell has he got himself into.

             

 

 

            “AHAHA, sorry for Toshi’s violence. He has never been good at self-control.”

            “I apologize for Gin-san’s rudeness. He doesn’t know what’s appropriate most of the times you see.”

            “Nono, Otae-san, it’s all Toshi’s fault.”

            “That wouldn’t be right, Kondo-san. Let him apologize.”

            “Oi, Otae, it was not my fau-!”

            “Apologize now, Gin-san?”

            “…I apologize,” Said ‘Gin-san’ sullenly while rubbing his abused feet.

            Hijikata was having a hard time processing what happened in the past 5 minutes. After Otae, Kondo and Sougo found the two of them, they were placated to sitting down and forced to face each other without growling and throwing insults right and left. Kondo was very keen to put all the blame on him and Sogou was just sitting there with his smug face.

            _Tch! As if my birthday wasn’t bad enough, this had to happen. All because of that curly haired bastard._

            Hijikata glared at the barista with all the contempt he could muster and was glad to see the said barista fidget uncomfortably.

            “Ok, now since that’s in order, Gin-san, why don't you make them a nice cup of coffee for all of them as an apology?”

            “I thought I already apologized!”

            “Gin-san?” Otae replied, and hell, that woman’s got one frightening smile. ‘Gin-san’ went off without another word and Hijikata was left there to sit alone with Kondo-san desperately trying to woo Otae and a bored Sogou, which was never a good thing. The inertia of the day was slowly creeping on him and the rowdy pair next to him sounded miles away. He slid farther away on the bench as to not fall asleep on Kondo-san or Sogou and the moment his head hit the adjacent table, his eyes closed and his consciousness started drifting. Just as he was about to black out, a hot mug touched his cheek, jolting him awake.

            “It’s black. Thought someone as uptight as you would like something like this,”  
 said the curly haired barista, with a pretty purple bruise starting to show on his left cheekbone. Too tired to shoot back an insult, he accepted the coffee with merely a glare. The barista took a place on a chair opposite him after handing out all mugs, carefully skirting around Otae. Hijikata took a careful sip lest he gets poisoned, but he was surprised to feel the delicious aroma fill his mouth. He took another gulp, his drowsiness already being chased away. Too caught up on his coffee, he failed to notice the barista stare intently at him until he was halfway through the drink.

            “Stop staring at me. Although I can’t blame you. Who would?” Hijikata said sarcastically, quoting the barista from earlier.

            “Gin-san wasn’t staring~”

            “Tch…”

            “Aren’t you going to ask for my name yet?”

            “Why would I?”

            “I would think it’s customary for a stranger who punched me to ask for my name at the very least,” he replied with a smirk.

            “Isn’t it ‘Gin-san’?”

            “Come now, business-kun, you should know a proper introduction is important in any kind of relationship~”

            “I’m not going to waste time on a proper introduction for someone who calls me ‘business-kun!”

            “It’s not that much of an effort you know.”

            “I’ve had enough today,” Hijikata sighed, resigned of all relief for the day. He set the finished mug down and gathered his things. A glance at the clock told him it was nearing 2 am. He gave a hasty goodbye to Otae, Kondo and Sogou as to not get held back and was almost out the door when a lazy yell reached his ears.

            “It’s Sakata Gintoki!”

            “I don’t care!”

            “Gin-san knows you’ll be back! Nobody makes a better coffee than Gin-san.” Hijikata could hear the grin in his voice. “Besides, you gotta pay for the coffee today, business-kun.”

            “IT WAS SUPPOED TO BE FREE, YOU IDIOT!”


End file.
